Rockies & MLB

Nolan Arenado busts finger as Rockies fall in series opener at Atlanta

The Rockies' Nolan Arenado dives in to second base safely during the second inning ahead of the throw by the Braves' Dan Uggla on Friday in Atlanta. (Scott Cunningham, Getty Images)

ATLANTA — Turner Field is the Rockies' Bermuda Triangle.

Misfortune struck a huge blow Friday night when Gold Glove third baseman Nolan Arenado, possibly headed toward his first All-Star Game appearance, suffered a fractured left middle finger while sliding headfirst into second base with a double during the second inning.

The diagnosis is a left mallet finger fracture, an injury with the potential to sideline Arenado four to six weeks.

"We don't know if he'll have surgery," Rockies trainer Keith Dugger said late Friday night. "If it's non-operative, we will splint it and he's out four to six weeks."

But if surgery is required, and a pin has to be inserted, Arenado could be out of action six to eight weeks. Dugger said the club has sent X-rays of Arenado's fractured finger to Dr. Thomas Graham, an orthopedic surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic. Arenado will be examined by Graham when the club travels to Cleveland on May 30.

"All I know is he's got a fractured finger, so he's going to miss some time," manager Walt Weiss said after his club lost 3-2 to the Braves, continuing the Rockies' losing tradition in Atlanta. "It's tough news for our club. He was off to a great start. He's a (heck) of a player, and that's all part of it.

"Guys are going to get hurt. You have to deal with injuries. Guys will step up like they have been. We've dealt with our share already and it's another one, but our guys will step up."

The Rockies lost when Ramiro Peña hit a leadoff double in the eighth inning off usually reliable reliever Adam Ottavino, then scored when Gerald Laird rapped a single to left field. Up to that point, Atlanta was 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

(Severiano Galvan)

"With Laird, I had a feeling he was looking for the breaking ball (slider)," said Ottavino, who entered the game with a 1.40 ERA, best on the Rockies' pitching staff. "But I still stuck with my strength and he did a good job. I threw a hittable slider and he hit it."

Colorado — swept by the Braves in a four-game series at Turner Field last year — fell to 24-61 all time in Atlanta as closer Craig Kimbrel blew the Rockies away with three strikeouts in the ninth.

The Rockies didn't go down in flames as they often do in Atlanta. Michael Cuddyer tied the score 2-2 in the sixth on a homer to left off Braves starter Gavin Floyd. It was Cuddyer's first home run since coming off the disabled list Tuesday and his fourth of the season.

Cuddyer saved a run in the seventh when he chased down B.J. Upton's slicing drive to right with the bases loaded.

Rockies starter Jordan Lyles rebounded from a stinker of a start in his last outing to pitch a solid game. His sinker sinking again Friday, he pitched six innings, allowing two runs and six hits. Best of all, he walked just one after issuing six free passes to the Padres last Saturday at Coors Field.

"I just didn't walk everybody in the lineup, I guess," Lyles said. "I put that last game behind me a day or so later."

But, per usual in Atlanta, it wasn't enough. And all of the details of the Rockies' defeat were clouded by Arenado's injury.

After his double, Arenado came around to score the game's first run on a groundout by Jordan Pacheco, but he did not come back out for the bottom of the second inning. He was replaced at third base by Charlie Culberson.

Arenado, who earlier this season set a Rockies record by hitting in 28 consecutive games, leads major-league third basemen with 23 extra-base hits. His 17 doubles are the most among the Rockies.

As he left the field, Arenado could be seen squeezing his finger.

In a related move, the Triple-A Sky Sox pulled shortstop Josh Rutledge from the third inning against Memphis in Colorado Springs. He likely is headed to Atlanta to take Arenado's spot on the Rockies' 25-man roster.

Starting second baseman DJ LeMahieu could be moved to third base, with Rutledge taking his spot at second.

"I don't know what they are going to do, but if they need me (at third base) I'm ready," Le- Mahieu said.

Looking ahead

Minor is the kind of heady lefty who moves the ball in and out of the zone and gives the Rockies fits, especially when they are on the road. Witness last July 31 at Turner Field, where he dazzled Colorado by pitching seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits, striking out six and walking none. In four career starts against the Rockies, he's 3-0 with a 3.96 ERA. Nicasio is at the opposite end of the spectrum. He's 0-3 with a 9.82 ERA in four starts against the Braves. Nicasio got blown off the mound at Turner Field last July 30, allowing eight runs on 10 hits in four innings. Nicasio, his knee now sound, is pitching better this season than he did last summer.

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